Sourav Chandidas Ganguly : Indian Victory

Dada walked off the field at Nagpur today with his head held high after India's comprehensive victory against Australia. It is so appropriate that Dada decided to call curtains after this Aussie tour and more fitting so because of the victory. Sourav will be ever remembered by how challenging he was as a captain and how shrewd he was - all owing to India's historic wins against the toughest opponent by far - the Australia of Steve Waugh.

If not for Sourav The Brave, our cricket would have been still looking for reasons to explain why it failed overseas.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have learnt how to face up to intimidation and return the favour.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would still be groping in darkness of politics.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have know how to charge ahead fearlessly.
If not for Sourav The Brave, Indian cricket would not have known what strength of leadership is.
If not for Sourav the Brave, Indian cricket would not have become the formidable force that it is now.

Dada's greatest contribution as every one will agree, is as a captain of Indian cricket team. Azhar got gobbled in match fixing controversy, Tendulkar in spite being individually great wasn't able to handle the pressure. Then came along Sourav. Dada not only led the team without showing pressure, he lead the team in to frontiers never before explored by Indian cricket & the team won where they never have done so before.

Indian cricket has seen many brave and valiant cricketer's, Sunil Gavaskar's bravery in facing West Indian pace attack was great. Kapil Dev's exploits at 1983 world cup were a legend in themselves. Dada is different from them - Dada not only did great things, but the team under him did great things. Yes, he had a great team in Sachin, Anil, Laxman, Dravid and Bajji, but it is very true to say that without Sourav's captaincy, we could have seen great feat's, not great victories.

Sourav's magical batting almost fades away before his captaincy. Who of us can recall who the King of the Offside is? What divine timing? What effortless execution? What astonishing placement? He is the fourth highest run getter in history of Indian cricket.

Still Sourav will live on in Indian cricket memory as the greatest of captains ever to lead Indian cricket team. That is what he has contributed to Indian cricket. Many of the current star's can recall proudly that it was Sourav who backed them in earlier stages of their careers. Sourav showed the world that Indian's are not minnows, importantly still, Sourav showed it to Indian's themselves.It is almost unnecessary to state the win-loss stat's of Sourav as a captain, the impact of his captaincy resonates after he was stripped of it and will keep resonating long after his retirement.

Still, its a pleasure to look at the numbers -49-21-13-15 (captained-won-lost-draw) for his test captaincy. Exceeding all other Indian captains by far, Sourav's numbers reflect his mettle as a captain.

Anil retired and I will recall his great feats whenever another leggie does something magical for India. Sourav retired and I will remember him every time India wins - especially overseas.

That's what Sourav Chandidas Ganguly means to me : an Indian Victory.